Indian princess Gayatri Devi could have just relaxed in her life of luxury. Instead she won three elections, ran a stud farm and started schools for girls. She was also a campaigner for democracy and women’s rights. The princess died aged 90 on July 29 this year.

Raised in an opulent palace with 500 servants, she spent holidays in London and Europe. There her family mixed with the British Royal family and the social elite.

At just 20 she married Sawai Man Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur, in a famous wedding in 1939. His family looked down on her Cooch-Behar connections and her family didn’t like his already having two wives. The handsome young man had been practically forced to marry these wives so he spent most of his time with the princess who was called one of the ten most beautiful women in the world. A writer in Vogue called her ‘a dream in sari and jewels.’

The Maharaji ruled over more than two million people until India’s independence from Great Britain in 1947. The princess set fashion trends, met Jackie Kennedy and other important people, and held extravagant parties. She was painted by Cecil Beaton.

In 1962 she won a seat in parliament, gaining one of the largest majorities in Indian history. She won elections three times but eventually she had a conflict with Indira Gandhi over Gandhi’s socialist policies. She was put in jail for five months on what many thought were trumped up charges of tax-evasion.

Her husband died on the polo field in 1970. In 1975 she retired from politics, but she continued to support charities, run her farm, and run the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl’s School, one of the schools that she started. The talented princess also wrote books, including her memoirs, A Princess Remembers.

She tragically had to face the death of her only son, Jagat Singh, who had abused drug and alcohol in the nineteen-nineties. She remained resilient, however, still entering society. She loved cricket and riding. The princess wanted to see the Keira Knightley film, ‘The Duchess’, according to actress, Sharmira Tagore, who married the cricketer, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

The princess, ‘a picture of beauty and grace’, will be greatly missed.

attaininggrace Other Mediatized Royals Biography, Books, Death, Gayatri Devi, Maharaja of Jaipur

Carl, 14th Duke of Croÿ celebrates his 95th birthday today.

The Croy Coat of Arms

One of the oldest surviving Royals, Carl von Croÿ is the Head of Ducal House of Croÿ. He was born as Carl Emanuel Ludwig Petrus Eleonore Alexander Rudolf Engelbert Benno on October 11, 1914 to Karl Rudolf, 13th Duke of Croÿ and his wife Nancy Leishman, an American heiress and daughter of Pittsburgh industrialist John Leishman (former US Ambassador to Germany and president of Carnegie Steel). The Duke succeeded his father Karl Rudolf as Head of the House of Croÿ in 1974.

Prince Carl married Princess Gabrielle of Bavaria, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and his second wife, Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. Their children are:

1) Princess Marie-Therese Princess von Croÿ, born in 1954. She married Count Stephan of Walderdorff in 2002 and has a daughter, Laura von Croÿ (born in 1986) from previous relationship.

2) Hereditary Prince Rudolph Carl Rupprecht von Croÿ, born in 1955. In 1987, he married Countess Alexandra Miloradovich, the daughter of Baroness Agnes von Hoenning-O’Carrol (the daughter of Baron Zdenko von Hoenning-O’Carrol and Princess Margarite of Lobkowicz), who descends from the Trubetskoy princely lineage. They have six children: Prince Carl Philip (born in 1989), Princess Xenia (born in 1990), Prince Marc (born in 1992), Prince Heinrich (born in 1993), Prince Alexander (born in 1995) and Princess Anastasia (born in 1998).

3) Prince Stefan Clemens von Croÿ, born in 1959. He married Countess Beatrice du Chastel de la Howarderie in 1990. They have three children: Princess Charlotte (born in 1992), Prince Lionel (born in 1996) and Princess Camille (born in 1998).

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Marsel Other Mediatized Royals Biography, Birthday, Ducal House of Croÿ, Duke Carl von Croÿ